GERMANY. Schäfer Airport Retail has secured planning permission to build an 8,000sq m distribution centre in Germany. According to the company, the new facility will help the company grow its travel retail network in Germany and around the world. The project is set to complete by the end of 2022.
The property will also house the new Schäfer headquarters. It is located at the Willroth Business Park on the A3, one of Germany’s main arterial roads. The location is also close to key German aviation hubs Frankfurt Airport and Cologne Bonn Airport.
The building will feature several sustainable features as well as provisions for renewable energy. The company said that it will apply for sustainable building certification that will balance ethical and environmental sustainability with commercial viability.
“Some people might say this is not the right time to make such a bold move to build an ambitious distribution centre, but we believe the opposite,” commented Schäfer Airport Retail Managing Partner John Woodhouse. “We firmly believe in a strong future for travel retail, despite the painful current difficulties for the channel brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The timing for the completion of our project should mirror the start of meaningful recovery and gives us a strong platform from which to achieve our ambitions for scaling the business and making acquisitions to support expansion.”
Woodhouse added, “The new building is an important long-term strategic move for us towards achieving a more efficient distribution operation, which we will need to continue the growth of the business. Our ambitions stretch way beyond the German market, and we believe this project will lay the foundations for us to move into multiple overseas markets, as well as into airport retail in other European countries.”
Schäfer Airport Retail operates consumer electronics stores under the ‘Move’ brand at key German airports. The company is currently based in the Rhineland Pfalz region in Germany and majors on the manufacture and retail of healthcare, electronics and toy products. As reported, Schäfer Airport Retail recently opened two Move consumer electronics stores at Stuttgart and Nürnberg airports last October.